Jennifer Lawrence Is the Highest Paid Actress of 2015

Love her or hate her, Jennifer Lawrence made quite a lot more money than you, any of your friends or family and all of the rest of the actresses in the world during 2015. While Katniss Everdeen is short on bread, this celebrity certainly is not, as Forbes names her the highest paid actress of 2015. Not just here in the states, but worldwide.

So, how much did Jennifer Lawrence make in 2015? Are you sure you really want to know? The 25-year-old pulled in $52 million before taxes over 12 months. She beat number two on the list, Scarlett Johansson, by $16.5 million. The Avengers: Age of Ultron star pulled in $35.5 million. This year, Forbes changed things up, including actresses from all around the world. Despite knocking down these borders, only one non-American managed to make the list. Chinese actress Bingbing Fan landed at number four, just behind comedian Melissa McCarthy. The Spy star pulled in $23 million, while Bingbing Fan earned a respectable $21 million.

Melissa McCarthy was the only other American actress who managed to bank over $20 million, with her combined box office grosses pulling in $335 million worldwide. Now, she is turning to fashion to launch her own plus-sized woman's clothing line. This could certainly put her closer to the top of the list next year, if it's a success. When everything was counted, the 18 highest paid actresses of 2015 managed to earn a combined total of $281 million before taxes and fees.

The top earning actresses working today can earn anywhere between $10 million and $20 million on a movie, while negotiating a share of the box office profits. Jennifer Lawrence's The Hunger Games is one of the few franchises with a woman character in the lead. A recent study found that only 21 of the 100 top grossing films of 2014 featured a female lead, or co-lead, with only 28.1% of the characters in those 100 movies being female, period. It is much rarer for an actress to land any kind of role in a big blockbuster.

Sandra Bullock was 2014's top earning actress. She didn't even make it into the top ten this year, as her payday dropped from $51 million to $8 million over the course of an uneventful 12 months. Other well known actresses such as Emma Stone, who made $6.5 million, and Kristen Stewart, who made $12 million, didn't crack the top ten either, choosing to take smaller independent roles over the course of the past year.

Though Jennifer Aniston is making far fewer movies these days, she was able to stay in the top ten, coming in at #5 with $16.5 million, thanks to her endorsements with Aveeno, SmartWater and Living Proof. Julia Roberts came in at #6 thanks to her deals with Lancome, Givenchy and Calzedonia. Reese Witherspoon, who dropped off the list in 2011, retuned at #8 thanks to a number of new acting credits.

The list of top paid actresses is compiled by Forbes before subtracting management fees and taxes. The figures are based on data complied from sources such as Nielsen, Box Office Mojo, IMDB, interviews with agents, managers, lawyers, and even the stars themselves. Here is a list of the top ten highest paid actresses in 2015.